Serendipity
by Jazzabell
Summary: After a certain series of events Rukia begins to realise that maybe Ichigo is more than just a friend...Just a simple oneshot, read and review!


Ichigo and Rukia are characters created by Kubo Tite, and as such they belong to him.

* * *

Serendipity-part 1, enjoy!

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIICHIGOOOO!!!!!" the loud rough voice of a man hollered from within the front door of the Kurosaki residence. The orange haired high school student felt his eyebrows twitching at the annoying sound of the voice. _Honestly_, he thought, _what was wrong with that man?_

The blue bag that the boy held onto over his shoulder slowly began to withdraw from its position and as suddenly as the old man came running and jumping from within the doors to totally clamber onto his son, the resounding crash of a solid bag hitting the man's head began to echo around the empty road where they stood. The old man looked up at his son as he began to crumple like fallen ribbons onto the ground.

"Masakiiii, you'd be proud of our son's reflexes..."he airily muttered, and with that his head fell onto the pavement with a loud thud.

"Come on, Ichigo!"

"Oi! I'm coming Rukia"

The petite black haired girl, shut her cell phone with a tight snap and began to walk ahead into the house she shared with Ichigo, her hand waving to show she had heard.

"Onii-chan!!" the sweet innocent voice of Yuzu sailed through the air as she ran to fling her arms around her big brother, a spoon still cradled between her fingers.

"Oi!" Karin greeted, one of her foot raised and pressed against the wall where she leaned with her arms folded. "Honestly Yuzu he just went to school." She sarcastically murmured.

Yuzu ignored her twin sister and smiled radiantly up at her brother. "We're going to the supermarket to get some snacks so you and Rukia-chan have to go ready really quickly!" she literally sang.

"Get ready?!" Ichigo and Rukia queried simultaneously.

"That's right Ichigo, Rukia-chan. We have to get snacks for the fireworks festival tonight. You two forgot?" Kurosaki Isshin had entered the house about now and he stood akimbo eyeing his son and his friend.

Ichigo and Rukia both stood dumbfounded as they looked at the older man, both their faces painted with the similar expression of utter blankness. Ichigo raised a hand to scratch his ear, his eyes closed as he nonchalantly replied, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that..."

"Well what are you waiting for Ichigo, Rukia-chan, go get ready while we're gone!" he returned in a booming voice. Karin and Yuzu both gave a wave as they exited the house with their father, Yuzu happily skipping away as they went down the road.

"I forgot about that, why didn't you remind me Rukia!?" Ichigo angrily threw his words at the girl as he began to make his way up the stairs to his room.

"How was I supposed to remind you, you live here!" she snapped.

"Well, uhh, with some really weird persuasive powers via a really dumbass story that you wielded on my father, don't you like temporarily live here too?"

Rukia cocked an eyebrow at this and decided to ignore him as he opened the door to their room. She quickly slid his closet door open and jumped inside to grab a towel and other bath items.

"I am going to bathe." She muttered.

"Yeah well just don't take like forever, cuz I have to use it too..."

It had been over one year now that the both had actually known each other. The winter war had raged on and had finally been silenced somehow; everything had returned to its usual calm. Soul Society was revelling in the peaceful era that had dawned since Aizen had been defeated and Rukia and Ichigo had returned to their posts as shinigamis for Karakura Town.

The summer holidays had officially begun, as today had been their final day of school for that term. The Karakura Town council had decided that at the beginning of every summer holidays there would be a fireworks festival to commemorate the start of summer. It was lovely, really.

As Ichigo sat by his desk, all thoughts from the year gone began to surface in his mind. One year since he had met Rukia, one year since the wheel had actually begun to rotate in his life_...one year. _So much had changed. He had charged into Soul Society to protect Rukia in whatever way he could have, to save her from the impending death that had loomed in her life; from the clutches of Soul Society and their and twisted rules and laws and especially the twisted logic of her dumb brother, _Byakuya_, man that guy had seriously needed a life. But then he had come through in the end with Rukia hadn't he? So he had just needed a bit of prodding.

Anyways, how could he, Ichigo, have let Rukia go, just let her disappear from his life? She had brought about a wonderful change to his monotonous way of living, she had opened the doors of opportunity for him; he would finally be able to protect others that deeply mattered to him, those that he could not have protected before. And it was Rukia who had shown him this, it was Rukia who had made it all possible. It seemed that she really had made the rain cease its endless downpours in his life. Thanks to Rukia, the rain had finally stopped...What would he do without her...?

Ichigo sighed. In any case what was taking that weirdo so long? She had been in the bathroom for almost thirty minutes. He was beginning to feel the claws of irritation biting into his skin. He glimpsed his watch once more and heaved an impatient sigh. Man that girl took ages to bathe.

Ichigo stood from his chair and made his way towards the bathroom. He seriously hoped she had finished by now.

As soon as he was about to bang his fist on the door, he heard a slight ruffle and then a muffled yell as a small something went colliding right into his arms. What the hell? Ichigo was momentarily confused. The sudden force behind the impact had knocked the wind from his stomach and before he knew it, he was falling. He instinctively wound one arm around the slender waist and another gripped the back of its head.

Rukia!? What the hell was she doing, just slamming into him like that? It seemed as though she had opened the bathroom door as soon as he was about to knock on it. And she had been running out of the bathroom to boot, what the hell was wrong with her?

They fell with a slight thud on the ground and rolled twice before stopping. Ichigo gave a small groan from on the ground and his head felt dazed from the sudden impact.

As suddenly as it had ceased, his awareness began to kick into action. He could feel two small palms pressed against his chest and he could smell the soft sweet fragrance of a flowery bath scent lingering in the air. Rukia's hair had spilled on his face and he was slowly inhaling the scent. Suddenly realisation began to dawn on Ichigo. He could feel the soft moist material of a towel beneath his fingers that were wrapped around Rukia's waist, he could feel her heart pounding against his own, _oh good lord_, Rukia was lying barely clothed on top of him.

And it was then that sudden reality began to crawl into Rukia's dazed mind as well. She could feel her bare legs tangled indecently with Ichigo's and she could also feel his strong heart beat pounding beneath her fingers. A sudden heat began to rise in her cheeks as she felt his fingers twitch around her waist. _Oh dear..._

Before she could stop herself, Rukia instantly sprang to her feet, her fingers clutching the falling towel around her chest. Her face had turned completely scarlet by now as she eyed Ichigo lying on the ground. His own eyes were unconsciously travelling over her slender figure that was indecently exposed beneath the towel. He was speechless.

No plausible sentences could even be formed in Rukia's head either. Oh dear God, she was so utterly embarrassed.

"Ah-" she barely managed to croak, but it was not enough. What on earth could she say? With that she pelted of into Ichigo's room, the towel flapping behind her.

Ichigo just sat on the ground, dazed from the fall and even more dazed from what had just transpired. And out of all the incoherent thoughts that were presently swimming in his head only one made enough sense to him. He had never realised Rukia smelt and felt so good...

*****

Serendipity-part 2, enjoy!

The night was considerably warm and especially so with all the additional activity; things were all the more radiant. The chatter of many voices swam through the air, the cry and laughter of children also dancing through all the noise and confusion. It really was a beautiful night, and with so many people, it only added to the ambience.

The velvety sky was absolutely clear and only the few jewels that were present could be seen pinning down the sky to the heavens. It was perfect for fireworks.

Ichigo looked on ahead as his father hopped on with Yuzu swinging from his arms and Karin just ambling on behind. They were making quite a racket, but then with all the noise already, it really didn't matter. He was glad to see them so contented...

Then there was Rukia. She had completely avoided any form of conversation that related to the evening's occurrence. Not that Ichigo was too keen to bring it up either. He had wanted to apologise but he knew if he initiated any form of dialogue he would have been smacked on his face, so he decided to take the smoothest path and just drop it completely. But the effort was proving a bit of a challenge, that is, to forget the incident...

Even Rukia was a bit embarrassed. She could not help playing the situation over and over in her head. Why on earth did Ichigo have to come at exactly the same time she was about to make a mad dash from the bathroom? The situation had been so awkward...Sure she had been Ichigo's arms already, but that had been purely innocent, but now...She had never lain so intimately with him before and it was downright mortifying. The ground could have opened up and swallowed her whole at that point in time. But moping about it was really not going to get her anywhere.

Rukia tried to stamp the inundation of mind thoughts crashing down on her and tried to breathe evenly. She was going to try and forget the evening ever happened and she was going to make sure Ichigo never brought it up again. So she tried to ignite some small talk.

"I got an update on Soul Society Ichigo"

"Well, it's about time they contacted you, I thought they had forgotten about you or something"

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" she grumbled, her eyebrows already twitching in irritation. Man he never ceased to talk random trash when given the opportunity.

"Nothing, nothing...stupid...anyway, what'd they say?"

"Well, Renji contacted me and he said everything was alright, there was just the usual loads of paperwork that needed to be completed, but other than that, things are finally back to normal. Oh and I think they're finally gonna appoint a 5th squad captain..."

"Wow, they were taking forever, it's about time..."

"Yeah I know..."

Ichigo gave Rukia a side wards glance and a small smile began to tug at his lips. At least she had decided to start conversation. He was glad. He observed the violet yukata that adorned her and the various plastic combs and kanzashis that adorned her hair. She really did look good in the traditional clothing, somehow it suited her. He had never been one to indulge in it so much. Tonight he had decided to wear a simple slacks and t-shirt. Really it was just a fireworks festival...

As the night wore on in a plethora of colours, Rukia couldn't help but shift but a bit uncomfortably in her seat. Everything was just beautiful really, the sky with its bursting blooms of colours, the radiant clothing that adorned so many people, the warmth of the summer night....and yet she still felt a bit uncomfortable, like there was some unconscious thought banging at the back of her mind, some unknown thought that she was afraid of letting loose.

Honestly, what was wrong with her? Why was she behaving like this??? She refused to believe that Ichigo had absolutely anything to do with it, but still her heart whispered against her. Just because she had lain in his arms, all of these things kept popping up in her mind. She swore she was going mad. She had to shake it off, she could not carry these thoughts anywhere with her. Ichigo was supposed to be a good friend, her nakama, so why was she feeling this way, besides, she just had to emphasise it to herself once more, Ichigo was just a friend..._right?_

_****_

Serendipity part 3-enjoy!

Over the following weeks, Rukia had to fend with the internal emotional hurricane raging within her. She could not concentrate, she could not think clearly enough, her mind was in complete disarray. She was confused, confused about Ichigo and confused about herself. When he was near, she would feel her heart pounding madly in her rib cage and it would take almost all of her self control to simply conceal her emotions beneath a stoic facade. Ichigo was totally oblivious to her internal struggle and she had to ensure that he would never suspect anything. She could not let him see her distracted like she was and furthermore she couldn't let him see that he was the one who had triggered it off.

Rukia sighed.

She was attempting to read another one of those historical romances that she absolutely adored and for some odd reason, not even this seemed to soothe the turmoil within. She was lying on the ground in Ichigo's room, flat on her stomach, her feet raised in the air. She stole a small glance at Ichigo on his bed. He was reading too, some manga or the other. He looked so much at ease...

Suddenly, Rukia felt her mobile phone vibrating in her pocket. She instantly snapped into a sitting position and flicked the phone open.

"Ichigo! A Hollow!" she shouted

She had simultaneously snapped out of her gigai and turned to see Ichigo also in his shinigami garb, his body lying emotionless on the bed. He was grinning at her, "It's about time one showed up, I was getting bored."

Rukia returned his grin and they both immediately flash stepped out of the window. Following the flow of the riatsu they increased their flash step. They were almost there. Rukia could hear the guttural screams of the creature and she felt her resolve grow. She hated those damn things.

On approaching she halted as Icigo immediately jumped up in the air, Zangestsu raised high above his head. The hollow's back was turned to them and Rukia watched with absolute confidence as Ichigo aimed his sword at the head of the hollow.

Suddenly the tail of the creature came flying out of nowhere, hitting Ichigo square on in the stomach.

"ICHIGO!" she screamed. She watched in horror as Ichigo began to fall and was about to flash step to his side when a sudden piercing pain dug into her back. Rukia let out a wince at the pain and turned to see another one of the creatures at her back. Another hollow?

She immediately withdrew her katana and called forth on its power. Raising it to her side, she began to shout but was suddenly stopped when a thick fan of blue riatsu came hurtling towards the monster before her. It immediately began to scream as it dissolved into the air. Rukia spun around, relief washing through her entire body, "Ichigo!" she shouted. She didn't know what she would would have done if anything had happened to him. He immediately dispatched the other hollow and came towards her as that hollow also dissolved into the air.

"Oi! Rukia, you alright?"

Rukia shot him a grin and raised her hand in the air to give him the thumbs up. "You know I could have gotten rid of him myself Ichigo." She said.

"He raised an eyebrow at her and grinned, "Whatever stupid"

However before Rukia could reply she felt a sudden dizziness begin to slowly envelope her...what was happening?? She heard someone shouting her name but nothing made sense anymore, and then suddenly all the world went black as she began to fall into a vortex of complete blackness, just falling, falling, _falling_

****

Serendipity part 4, enjoy!

What was all the noise about? There was a static crackling somewhere in her subconscious and she couldn't exactly determine what it was. She still felt as though she was wrapped in a cloak devoid of any feeling. She could feel nothing. However as the seconds ticked by, feeling slowly began to return to her limbs and she felt her eyelids begin to flicker. Her fingers twitched and slowly she opened her eyes. Her vision was slightly blurry and she blinked a few more times to adjust it. _Clearer now_, she dazedly thought. She was covered in white sheets and was lying on a futon. She was unsure of where she was but then realisation began to dawn. _Right_,she knew the place was familiar, she was at Urahara's shop. She immediately sprang into a sitting position and found her head instantly begin to spin out of control. Someone instantaneously gripped her shoulders and shoved her back down on the futon. Rukia felt confusion whirling through her.

"Wh-what!?" she shouted in a muffled voice as her head hit the soft pillow.

"Rukia, what's wrong with you, jumping up like that!" She raised her eyes to glimpse Ichigo leaning over her.

"I-Ichigo..." There was a strange light dancing in the brown depths of his eyes, Rukia had never seen him look so worried about her. (He had given her the look before actually if I'm not wrong when Grimmjow had like stabbed her and Orihime was healing her, I can't remember the episode, but Orihime became jealous/sad because of the look Ichigo had given Rukia, anywayzzz back to the story, lol)

"Are you crazy Rukia?" his voice had softened considerably; there was almost a certain tenderness to it. "You just woke up, why did you just jump of the futon?"

"I-I was just confused for a moment...that's all" she lowered eyes.

"Man that hollow gave you quite a cut, that thing was deep..." His voice had returned to normal and he had raised his hand to the back of his neck. Rukia glanced back up at him and smiled. At least he was alright. "I don't know what I would have done if you had-you know..." he muttered. Before Rukia could stop herself she raised herself once more on the futon and flung her arms around Ichigo's neck. Before Ichigo could protest he felt Rukia's lips pressed against his own and he fell into temporary shock. Rukia wasn't aware of what she was doing either but, the entire day's happenings had made her realise how much Ichigo had meant to her and if she wasn't too arrogant herself to say so, how much she meant to him. Had she been sowing seeds in ignorance all this time? She had let her love blossom untended all this time. How long had she been in love with Ichigo? she wasn't even sure, but being in his arms like this felt absolutely right. It had taken a silly little situation like falling into his arms almost in the nude to trigger her relisations. And the fact that she had been injured today confirmed her suspicions. She _had_ developed feelings for Ichigo...

Slowly Ichigo began to sink into the experience and he began to return her kiss. Nothing was making much sense right now, but it did feel right.

After some time had passed, Rukia eased the kiss and with her fingers still linked around Ichigo's neck, she shyly observed him...

"I'm sorry Ichigo-"

"Nah," he cut her of, "I've always wondered what it would feel like anyway..."

"I-ichigo!"

"What?" he exclaimed

She timidly looked up at him and she knew the expression in his eyes well. She didn't need words to tell her he felt the same way.

"How long have you...?" she softly queried

"Known? I don't know it just happened...I can't really explain it but I don't know what I would do without you."

Rukia smiled at him, "Yeah me too..."

Urahara was just about to peek in the room to see if Rukia had everything that she needed and well you can imaging his expression when he saw them embraced...well it seems they both finally realised something that was pretty much evident to everyone else, and they both finally had everything that they needed...

* * *

Hope you didn't think it was too fast or anything but I kinda rushed it down, I gots some stuff to do n all and I was determined to finish it today. Well hope u guys had fun reading. Review it and tell me what u think.

Peace out!


End file.
